membranes lipids and signalling Flashcards
(186 cards)
who described the fluid mosaic model?
1972 Singer and Nicholson
what do lipids spontaneously form?
bilayers
which part protrudes into the aqueous phase?
hydrophilic head groups
what are glycerophopholipids derived from?
glycerol-3-phosphate
what are glycerophopholipids?
major class of membrane lipids
what are lipid rafts?
where the average composition of a patch of the membrane is different from the bulk composition.
contain more sphingomyelin and cholesterol
what are glycerophopholipids?
major class of membrane lipids
what are lipid rafts?
where the average composition of a patch of the membrane is different from the bulk composition.
contain more sphingomyelin and cholesterol
how many fatty acid tails do glycerophopholipids have?
2
give two examples of fat that give rise to fatty acid tails.
palmitate, stearate
why do fatty acid tail have an even number of carbons?
made by stepwise addition of the two carbon molecule acetate onto growing fatty acid chains. The acetate is presented to the reaction on the carrier molecule Coenzyme A
if a tail has no double bonds what is it called?
saturated
give examples of headgroups of glycerophopholipids.
water, ethanolamine, choline, serine, glycerol, myo-inositol
name the three types of movement possible within a membrane.
lateral diffusion, rotation, transverse diffusion (flip-flop)
how is asymmetry of the membrane produced?
translocase enzymes which can flip phospholipids across the membrane in an energy dependent fashion
what do scramblase enzymes do?
randomise the normal membrane distribution of headgroups and undo the work of the translocases
when are scramblase enzymes activated?
very special circumstances such as when a platelet is activated, when a sperm fertilises an egg, or when a cell commits suicide by apoptosis.
when are scramblase enzymes activated?
very special circumstances such as when a platelet is activated, when a sperm fertilises an egg, or when a cell commits suicide by apoptosis.
what does exposure of phosphatedylserine allow?
interaction with blood clotting factors on the surface of the platelet and this can trigger the onset of blood coagulation
how is PS involved in the apoptotic cell cycle?
eat me signals
how does a cis double bond affect the chain?
produces a kink in the chain which takes up more space and results in a more fluid membrane
what do desaturases do?
introducing double bonds into fatty acids
how many different desaturases are there?
4
why do we need a supply of alpha linolenic acid and linoleic acid in our diet?
desaturases can only desaturate in certain places